Drew is a signatory of the Presidents Climate Commitment. This commitment requires signatories to measure greenhouse gas emissions from operations and activities at all university-owned facilities. Greenhouse gases, when released, contribute to climate change by trapping heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Four of the six greenhouse gases included in the Kyoto Protocol1 were measured in Drew’s inventory. They are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and refrigerants (HFC). Emissions were measured based on the Drew fiscal year. The below pie chart depicts the source of Drew’s greenhouse gas emissions in fiscal year 2009. Emissions are created on-campus from heating campus buildings, burning fuel in university fleet vehicles, and leaked refrigerants from refrigeration and air conditioning equipment. Emissions are created off-campus from the generation of purchased electricity2 that is consumed on campus, off-campus travel, waste disposal and commuting.

Data was collected from various departments and converted to tons of carbon dioxide using the Clean Air-Cool Planet Carbon Calculator. In fiscal year 2009, Drew emitted 20,718 metric tons of equivalent carbon dioxide.

1The Kyoto Protocol is an international environmental treaty to stabilize the emission of gases in the atmosphere that contribute to climate change.

2 Drew purchases electricity from the Borough of Madison and does not have any control over the fuel mix used to generate the electricity. The Borough is one of several municipalities in New Jersey to provide electricity to residents and businesses. The Borough does not produce its own electricity, but rather purchases electricity from a public utility. The Borough then sells the electricity to Madison residents and businesses. The Borough’s fuel mix varies year to year depending on the utility that is contracted for electricity. As the Borough’s purchased electricity provider changes, so does Drew’s fuel mix. Since Drew’s purchased fuel mix changes regularly, this greenhouse gas inventory used data from the regional electric fuel mix to report emissions related to electricity consumption for consistency purposes.